


What is Utopia?

by BurningFox6



Category: BioShock 1 & 2 (Video Games)
Genre: Burned harder than Incinerate, Canon Continuation, Explanations, Gen, Philosophy, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:33:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29131872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurningFox6/pseuds/BurningFox6
Summary: Drenched. Defeated. Despairing. Sofia Lamb crawls out from the escape pod demanding answers. Little does she know she’s about to enter her final debate.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	What is Utopia?

**Author's Note:**

> **I’ve played Bioshock and Infinite before, but only recently did I get to play 2. By the end of it, I was left wondering something – what happened to Lamb? Her fate’s left up to the player’s choices, but if she survives, we hear nothing of her. I thought about it, and decided to tackle what’s certainly the world’s most awkward mother-daughter conversation.**

Sofia had been in the captain’s seat of paradise, guiding her people to an ideal future. Now… she was just thanking her lucky stars she was alive.

She crawled out from the flooded pod, gasping, sputtering, droplets raining from her body as she pulled herself forward on shaking arms. It seemed she was the last to depart… Eleanor and the Little Sisters stood overlooking the ocean, and that damnedable Delta was in a heap off to the side. Lifeless. He was finally gone… but she felt no victory in that fact.

Everyone had forgotten she was here… until Eleanor felt eyes on her back. She turned, arms out, shielding the Little Sisters from the desolate woman before them. But Sofia was harmless, unable to even stand as she hacked up more seawater.

Lamb’s head spun with both oxygen deprivation and confusion. As soon as she could speak again, she said the first thing that came to mind. “Eleanor… dear. I gave you a gift greater than any parent could ever give. And you spat in my face.” She tried desperately to put her thoughts into words, and rest assured, she was educated enough to be an expert at it. And yet for the first time in a long time, her mind failed her. Only one word could express what she was thinking. 

“Why?”

Such a simple question, and yet so hard to answer. Did one truly need a reason to resist their monstrous mother’s plans? To reject her twisted view of perfection and carve their own path? Not really. But for once in her life, Sofia was actually listening to her. And Eleanor had something she’d wanted to ask herself.

“Tell me, mother… what is utopia to you?”

Sofia gaped. What kind of question was that? She had spent every moment since Eleanor’s birth drilling her vision of paradise into her, one way or another. But she’d humor her. 

“Utopia… is a world without the self. Where everyone works together to progress with each other. No conflict, no arguments, no destruction, no pain. Only a unified goal of doing what’s best for everyone. Only once selfishness is eradicated can we truly make something great for everyone.”

“And would you give up your own self to realize utopia?”

Lamb hesitated. There was a hypocritical urge to say no. But at last she decided if they were ever to advance, _everyone_ needed to focus on the common good. “Someone needs to lead everyone to its creation. But once it’s reached… yes. Yes, I would give everything to create utopia. I _have_ given everything to create utopia.”

“Then… what is the point?”

It was as if Eleanor had slapped her. That might’ve even been preferrable. But her callous words left Lamb just as shocked as a palm to the face. “What do you _mean_ what’s the point?”

“I mean, even if we reached your utopia, who would be able to enjoy it? Everyone under your whims, without purpose, without thought. Even yourself.” Eleanor paused, then lifted her arms, gesturing around her as the Sisters watched. “ Look around you, take it in… the sound of the waves, the heat of the sun… it would all be meaningless. Perfection means nothing if you _feel_ nothing. Love and happiness are just chemicals that have meaning because we give it to them. In your world, no one would be cognizant enough to understand this meaning. If everyone only existed to serve the greater good, no one could appreciate the world they’d created. Everyone would just… exist. It would be an empty, shallow life.”

She might’ve just barely escaped death, but Sofia didn’t debate Andrew Ryan himself to let her own child step on her ideals. Her brow furrowed. “It’d be a _perfect_ existence. No hatred. No war. We could band together, cure any disease, overcome any obstacle… no life would ever need to be taken unjustly again.”

“Everyone might be safe… but would they really be living?”

All Sofia could do was stare. In the literal sense, they’d be alive, yes… but Eleanor hadn’t meant literally. After a moment’s silence, her daughter went on.

“If you truly desire utopia, then once we reach land… you’ll disappear. Because no place will be perfect so long as you’re in it.”

Somewhere in her numbed heart, Sofia felt the jagged dagger Eleanor had just shoved into it. The very idea that she had to be excluded from the thing she’d sought for over a decade… it was the greatest insult she’d ever received. Calm, collected thought slowly melted into a simmering rage.

Her eyes fell on Delta. Long gone by now, and yet he’d caused irreparable damage already. The bubbling fury in her heart… it was all because of him. If he hadn’t been revived, none of this would have happened. Her daughter would still be untainted, advanced, perfect. They’d be on their way to utopia. But one Big Daddy was all it took to steal their most important asset away from them.

Eleanor shielded the Sisters again as Lamb leaned up, still bent over with fatigue. “Listen to yourself, Eleanor. You’ve betrayed your family… your mother… everything you were born to achieve! And it’s all because of this… this monster! You threw away perfection for the love of a mindless brute!”

Sofia reached out for the diving suit… and found herself halted. Eleanor’s needle was pointed right between her eyes. “Try to touch him again, and I’ll change my mind about mercy.”

“He’s not even alive anymore! He’s _gone_!” Sofia hissed.

“And yet he still means more to me than you ever will.”

In an instant, Sofia deflated. Anger fizzled into just… emptiness. Eleanor’s bond with Delta had been troubling before, but now… now she realized Eleanor really did care more about this deceased, rusting hunk of metal than her own mother. That if she was going to use her gifts for the betterment of humanity… it’d be without her.

Only now did she realize being spared wasn’t a mercy, but a punishment. 

It was unclear if Eleanor’s words finally resonated with her or if the frustration of failure and defiance had finally taken its toll on her psyche. But at that moment, Sofia finally broke.

She wept, her bitter tears mixing with the puddles of ocean water that’d pooled around her. Eleanor couldn’t help but note this was the most emotion her mother had expressed since… ever. And yet it brought her no joy. Only pity.

She turned back to the ocean, urging the Sisters to ignore the broken heap wailing behind them. She’d take Lamb to the shore, and nothing more. After that, she was on her own. It was likely she’d end up in a mental institution, after all she’d seen and done only to fail. Or maybe she’d actually heed her daughter and vanish… but that wasn’t Eleanor’s concern anymore. With a new lease on life and her father’s voice in her ear, she could finally live. She could finally make the world a better place.

It was almost funny. Only now that Sofia was dealt with could they actually start working towards utopia.


End file.
